The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1887-08-29
THE cHlNcoTEAcUE PONY.
Queer Scenes at the Herding In AVir-
ginian Island.

'Here's the pony, gentemen! Thar amt
no finer traveller on the island. Whoa thar!
durn yeP'
The speaker, tall angular chap, with I'M
kempt hair, a cardinal shirt, blue overalls
and barefooted, a typical specimen of tho
native, was holding by the long.made a res
tive diminutive pony,the raising and PEN
ming of which has, within the last decade,
made the island of Chincoteague, in Virgin
ian waters in connection with its great oys-
ter deposits, famous throughout the country.
And while he was vociferously expatiating
upon the speeding qualities of his charge the
crowd was constantly augmenting in size,
curious, heterogeneous congregation of peo-
pie, who came in boats from the Virginia
shore and in the cars from the back counties
in Maryland. This year, however, the at
tendance has not been confined exclusively
to residents of the immediate neighborhood,
but Philadelphia, New York, Baltimore and
Washington have contributed largely to
swell the crowds from the rural districts.
Conspicuous among this great audience are
the colored people, who regard the event as
holiday and are always present in full
force.
These pennings take place annually in
August, and for weeks great preparations
are made by the people to attend them. The
ayant courier is the corpulent cOlOred woman
with her toothsome squares Of old-fashioned
gingerbread and spruce beer. The rapid de-
velopment of internal improvements and the
memorable march of progressive intelligence
have somewhat shorn these pennings of
their antique and novel features, but there is
still much left to make them profoundly in
terestlng and highly amusing to the Northern
spectator
The beautiful bay of Chincoteague is dot
ted thickly with sail of all kinds of craft
the tiny sailboat, the canoe with its mutton
leg whlte-wings, the bug-eye. the pungy and
the schooner-all filled with human freight
and all grayitating toward the one great
point. Here, too comes the steamer from
Franklin City, having on board the sight
seers from Maryland and the up-country peo-
pie. They all rush pell-mell to the centre of
attraction. where the vast crowds are good
naturally pushing and jostling each other
for vantage bround-black and white men,
women and children, mixed up in almost in
extricable confusion Whiskey flows copi-
ously, the gingerbread woman and the oyS-
terman do thriving business, and the crowd
is happy and hilarious.
1t is almost impossible to learn ANYTHING
definite as to the origin of the Chncoteagne
pony. The Oldest inhabitant cannot give
correct or intelligent version Of whence he
came. They all have their theories, some of
there is lack of authenticity in these narra-
tlyes that leaves impressions of a dubious
character A great many claim that they
are an offspring of the pony of the Shetland
Isles and must have found their way to
Chlncoteague from large steamer that was
wrecked on the island before it was inhabit-
ed Certain it is, at one time they roamed
the island in vast numbers but when the
great storm OF fifty years ago devastated the
country and almost submerged Chincoteague
IL N oppihilioti
In size the Chincoteague pony approx
mates that Of the Shetland. The hair on
their bodies is thick and shaggy and their
names and tails are long and glossy. They
are strong, hardy little fellows, roaming
wild on tie extreme southern end of the
island, feeding on the hay and tender roots
which grow in luxurious abundance in the
salt marshes bordering ON the bay and the
Atlantic ocean. When they are brought in
they are divided off into what is known in
the vernacular as herds, and each herd has
its own peculiar mark or brand to distinguish
one from the other and thus Obviate the
difficulty of dispute as to identity and owner
ship when corraled for branding. These
branding ain irons are made according to the
notion OF the owner, representing the initials
stars, spear-heads, crosses, etc., and are
easily distinguished by the owner.
The men who herd the ponies are expert
enced riders. and in throwing the lariat
would put some of the COWBOYS to blush.
each one is provided with long whip and
lasso. They start out in different directions
and by clrcultous route come up within
sight of the ponies, quietly feeding on the
salt marshes, where they surround them.
The sudden appearance of the riders gener-
ally frightens the ponies and stampede en-
sues. Then comes an exciting chase for
miles, the herders usually coming out the
vlctors. The ponies are gradually gathered
together in mass and treated kindly until
THAR fright q tho cnddar hoe
somewhat subsidized, when they are driven to
their pen, where the herding takes place,
which Is an immense space enclosed with a
board fence. Here the young colts are pick
ed out, labelled and battered together. AS
is well known, colt will, by instinct, fol-
low its mother, and, as result, the colts of
one herd are easily distinguished from an
other.
The arrival of the herders with the ponies
is the signal for the widest excitement
among the spectators, and loud cheers greet
their coming, and the ponies are ushered
into the enclosure with wild hurrahs and
clapping of hands. The process of branding
is not only exciting, but exceedingly danger
Gus, and accidents have frequently been the
result. ltrequires an expert in the business
to successfully manage it. The pony is
brought out. and while one man holds his
head the branding-iron, in the hands of an
other, is quickly applied to the hip. The
whole operation does not, ordinarily, require
more than five minutes. Sometimes, how
ever a colt more refractory than the rest
has to be thrown down before he will sub
NIT. Ropes are tied to its legs and it is thrown
down. Crowds of negro boys, ranging in
age from six to twelve years, eagerly seize
the ropes and hold fast, to keep the pony
from kicking, taking care to keep at q re-
Spectful distance from the hoofs that wildly
paw the air. When the branding is COM
pleted the colts are again turned loose, and
they trot nimbly off to their mothers, and,
unless great MANY BUYERS are present the
whole herd is again let out of the pen, and.
unrestrained by whip or lasso. are off with
the speed of the wind, and are soon lost to
sight in the great woods.
Formerly these ponies could be bought
very cheap, but since the facilities for travel
to the island have increased, and the popu-
lation grown to such large proportions, they
sought after by the wealthy for beach driy-
ing. They are easily trained, and when
properly cared for after being taken from
their marshy home are handsome little spec
of